Original Galaxy Tab 10.1 is still banned, but court rules it's not infringing Apple's design -- sort of

Apple, Inc. (AAPL) has been dealt the latest in a series of mounting losses in its legal campaign to stifle top tablet and smartphone competitor Samsung Electronics, Comp., Ltd. (KS:005930). International courts are increasingly becoming frustrated at what some claim amounts to be anticompetitive legal "trolling" by both companies, who have flooded international courts with a deluge of lawsuits.

I. Apple's Design Claims -- Going Nowhere Fast

Apple, who initiated the patent spat, has made some controversial claims. Its lawyers argued that all modern tablets are in infringement of Apple's patented design, stating, "Samsung says Galaxy Tab 10.1, we say any tablet device."

Unfortunately for them, that claim is being tossed out of court. In Australia, the U.S., and the Netherlands, Apple has already been dealt effective losses in key rulings, after courts rebuffed its request to be granted a design-patent based exclusive monopoly on "minimalist" designs.

Samsung redesigned its Galaxy Tab 10.1 to make the 10.1N, a German specific variant that looks to avoid looking anything like the iPad. [Image Source: GSM Android]

That left only Germany where a judge granted Apple a victory on a design basis, with Mannheim court Presiding Judge Johanna Brueckner-Hofmann writing, "The court is of the opinion that Apple’s minimalistic design isn’t the only technical solution to make a tablet computer, other designs are possible. For the informed customer there remains the predominant overall impression that the device looks."

As in a technology patent based dispute in Australia, the Brueckner-Hofmann ruling was appealed by Samsung and overturned by a higher court. The Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court (an appeals court) ruled that the lower court erred in banning the standard international Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 on a design basis.

The court writes, "The scope of Apple's design is limited. A rimless flat [tablet] patent was already requested in an old U.S. patent application, the so-called "Ozolins design". Incidentally, the distinction "Galaxy Tab 10.1" [is] sufficiently clear from the declared design of Apple. Thus, the [Apple] design patent covers two aesthetically perceptible[ly] parts, a shell and a front panel covering it. The "Galaxy Tab 10.1" by contrast, was constructed in three parts, it consists of a front, a back and a verklammernden (clinging) frame."

The court, however, did ban both the Galaxy 10.1 (original) and its diminutive twin, the Galaxy Tab 8.9 on grounds that Samsung violated Germany's "unfair competition" laws.

It seems like bizarro day as the court essentially contradicts itself, stating, "The distribution of the "Galaxy Tab 10.1" [runs] contrary to the law against unfair competition, because the Samsung model unfairly imitates (§ 4 No. 9 b) the Apple Tablet "iPad" [hence violating] the law against unfair competition. Samsung use [of] the outstanding reputation and prestige of the "iPad" [is] unfair."

The ruling is very nebulous and arbitrary to say the least, as it does not exactly specify how Samsung is "unfairly" using Apple's "prestige", particularly considering that it already conceded that the iPad and Galaxy Tab designs are quite different in looks.

The Galaxy Tab 10.1N is a special design exclusive to the German market. It contains additional visual flares to differentiate it further from the iPad. Unsurprisingly, Apple was not satisfied with Samsung's efforts. It sued trying to block sales, but saw its request for a preliminary injunction refused by a lower court last year. It then tried to appeal the PI rejection to the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court.

Apple has lost another round at the Düsseldorf Higher Regional [appeals] Court in Germany.
[Image Source: All About Samsung]

But the higher court sided with the previously ruling, commenting that the extra design changes, on top of the Tab's already distinctive design, were cumulatively enough to work around both the European patent laws, and the stricter "prestige" based local German competition laws.

The court writes [translated]:

The chamber concluded after a summary of fast-tracked tests that the design of the "Galaxy Tab 10.1 N" has now changed sufficiently to differentiate [Samsung's] product from the design rights granted in Apple's European filing, which shows the design of a Tablet PC. Consequently, it does not fall within this protection area, and there is no infringement. Due to the pre-design changes made by Samsung the "Galaxy Tab 10.1 N " is [also] not in violation of [the] competition law.

In a way, in pushing for a fast-tracked preliminary injunction and then appealing to the higher court when it didn't get it, Apple's lawyers may have scuttled their own ship. Now that the higher court has ruled that the Galaxy Tab 10.1N does not infringe, it is far less likely that the lower Mannheim court would rule it to be in infringement.

This is a major victory for Samsung, as it means that it can continue to sell in Europe's third largest tablet market (behind France and the UK).

Of course, these rulings all concerned Apple's request to receive a preliminary injunction. While the rulings indicate Apple is less likely to receive any injunction on the Tab 10.1N, it is possible that it could still score such a win when the final ruling is made. Regardless of the outcome, that ruling will likely be appealed by whoever loses, so it will still be some time before this particular branch of the lawsuit war comes to its conclusion.

IV. A Long War Ahead

You can't say Apple isn't trying hard -- it's also targeting ten Samsung smartphones and five Samsung tablets (including the Galaxy Tab 10.1N), using four design right claims -- 000748280-0006 and 000888920-0018 [PDF]. Samsung is looking to directly attack the validity of these design claims, filing to have them removed from the EU design patent base [source]. It filed the invalidity claim in Aug. 2011.

Motorola -- whose acquisition by Android phonemaker Google Inc. (GOOG) will be approved or rejected next week -- is also being sued by Apple with regards to the Xoom tablet. Apple has also tried to bully HTC Corp. (TPE:2498) with a series of international filings. Its biggest success thus far has been to ban some older model HTC smartphones in the U.S. -- but that ruling will not go into affect until April, giving HTC time to potentially redesign and avoid it.

The Android phonemakers have been actively countersuing Apple. Motorola has -- so far -- seen the biggest success, scoring a temporary online sales ban on the iPad in Germany, as well as a still-standing ban on the iCloud. Samsung's claims have been far less successful, though it continues to employ a "carpet bombing" legal approach akin to Apple's [1][2][3].

In tablets, Apple is much farther ahead in sales, although Samsung's Galaxy line still leads non-iPad tablets in sales. The iPad 2 sold roughly 40 million units in 2011 [1][2][3][4], Samsung moved about several million Galaxy Tabs for the year, reaching shipments to retailers of 2 million in Q4 [source].

V. Judge for Yourself

While it's nice to see Germany finally coming around to common sense with the Galaxy Tab 10.1N ruling, the "unfair competition"-based ruling on the original design is still controversial.

1 - On average, Apple users are more educated than Android users.2 - How is it immoral or underhanded to try and protect your own designs? Lets remember that the court STILL agrees with Apple that the original Galaxy 10.1 was too similar to the iPad (aka copied) - and it is STILL banned. If you ask me, copying so blatantly is far worse than simply trying to protect your own designs.3 - Which is a better justification for a series of lawsuits? Believing you have a legitimate case that someone copied you designs (and being proved right), or trying to get a rivals devices banned by refusing them FRAND patents in retaliation (Samsung & Motorola, and being proved wrong).

This is a self regulating industry - and educated customers don't really care about the petty little disputes which go on between companies - they all do it. What educated customers care about is what the devices can actually do for them.

Without FRAND patents, the industry could not exist.Without protection over design rights, everybody could copy everyone else, the customer loses out.

You're taking a completely biased, illogical side, and believing that makes you one of the 'educated' people? Please. And by the way, I base this on the conclusions the courts reached, not my own personal opinion. If you really believe that any company takes the moral high ground when there is a legitimate legal argument to get a rivals device banned, please go on with your pathetic and pointless crusade. The rest of us will enjoy being able to use whichever phone or tablet we actually like the most, realising that no company has morals because all companies just look to maximise profits.

"I base this on the conclusions the courts reached, not my own personal opinion"

Other than that one case, Apple is unanimously losing everything else that goes to court. The few that they won other than that were overturned by a higher court as in Australia. So based on your beleive in hte legal systems of the world, you must agree that Apple is quite off base... Unless you are aware of cases they won that I am not aware of. I don't think they have won anything at all outside of Germany and that was only to force Samsung to rework the design.

"How is it immoral or underhanded to try and protect your own designs"

Because Apple's lawsuits are rediculous and vague. They didn't invent the touchscreen, or multitouch, or rectangles, or the color black for that matter. Why do you think they are losing? Lack of money to buy the best lawyers? hell no, they have the best of the best there and umpteen billions to spare. They are losing because they have no case.

What's wrong with defending American values against thieves? HUH? :)))

Nice try, Androidtroll!

quote: Other than that one case, Apple is unanimously losing everything else that goes to court. The few that they won other than that were overturned by a higher court as in Australia. So based on your beleive in hte legal systems of the world, you must agree that Apple is quite off base... Unless you are aware of cases they won that I am not aware of. I don't think they have won anything at all outside of Germany and that was only to force Samsung to rework the design.

UM Apple won cases in Australia, Germany, Netherlands, the U.S. and other places too.

Im looking forward to the day all this junk is banned. Then even you will have to swallow your pride and use the devices of the company that invented smartphones and tablets.

quote: Because Apple's lawsuits are rediculous and vague. They didn't invent the touchscreen, or multitouch, or rectangles, or the color black for that matter.

Apple invented the tablet. Try to deny that all you want, I'm not going to listen to you.

I've convinced my parents and friends to quite the world of windows and get macs and they're never happier. Just bought my dad an iPad, its great. Now if I had bought him one of these junk clones, he'd be pretty upset.

Apple is the real deel, thre rest are just imitators

quote: Why do you think they are losing? Lack of money to buy the best lawyers? hell no, they have the best of the best there and umpteen billions to spare. They are losing because they have no case.

No they are losing because the Asians are paying off the judges. Can YOU say bribe. Samsung is bribing them.

quote: UM Apple won cases in Australia, Germany, Netherlands, the U.S. and other places too. Im looking forward to the day all this junk is banned. Then even you will have to swallow your pride and use the devices of the company that invented smartphones and tablets.

Did you know that 2+2=5 for extremely large values of 2? It's true.

quote: Apple invented the tablet. Try to deny that all you want, I'm not going to listen to you. I've convinced my parents and friends to quite the world of windows and get macs and they're never happier. Just bought my dad an iPad, its great. Now if I had bought him one of these junk clones, he'd be pretty upset. Apple is the real deel, thre rest are just imitators

You are right, apple invented the smartphone, the tablet, the first mp3 player, the first computer, everything. It's the "real deel".

quote: No they are losing because the Asians are paying off the judges. Can YOU say bribe. Samsung is bribing them.

Yep, them Samsung's winning all those injunctions against apple over FRAND patents.

The bottom line on all this is that I can accept that some people seem to dislike Apple and that some people think that it's OK for one company to copy anthers products but to deny the utterly obvious, which is that Samsung copy Apple with look-alike 'me too' products is just being dishonest and cowardly.

The fact of the matter is that the "slate" design is the the the design minima for a touch interface device. Being granted a patent for that form is akin to being granted the patent for the sheet paper "design" after the discovery of the paper making process by someone else. And to continue the metaphor being granted patents for existing actions (writing, drawing, gestures, etc.) that are in other media just because you are using them in the new media "paper" is equally asinine.

Apple makes a big deal in their designs to make their virtual interface emulate the physical so that the visual language the interface "speaks" is almost obvious. The problem is that a design like the "slide to unlock" is really just a virtual implimentation if a physcal slide switch or latch which is not exactly a new idea, is not novel, and ultimatly very trivial.

And as to identifying structured data... for a start do some reading on regular expressions. As many have said the idea is as old as programming, dumping it on a smartphone which these days is really just a miniature computer and dressing the idea up in enough verbage to disguise the sheer obviousness of it does not make it new or novel.

I'm sure this guy has to be a troll. I know I'm not supposed to feed trolls. Anyway, sure, I guess they helped define the modern tablet. I'm pretty sure I watched a fledgling tablet market for much longer than the iPad has been around.

But this iPad to many people seemed to be a stretched iPod/iPhone. I'm not sure why it is sacrilege for others to stretch their device from 4" to 11".

Can Apple really say that they made their device larger first so no one else is allowed to?

quote: Apple invented the tablet. Try to deny that all you want, I'm not going to listen to you.

In 2002, original equipment manufacturers' released the first tablet PCs. Oh wait, apple just refreshed the idea in 2010 unless they have time travel and can change history.

quote: Im looking forward to the day all this junk is banned. Then even you will have to swallow your pride and use the devices of the company that invented smartphones and tablets.

Um again, your bias has rendered you totally unable to read or process facts. Smartphones started around 2000 with Symbian, palm, blackberry and windows CE. Apple joined the party in 2007. Granted their approach did cause great change but they were hardly the "Company that invented smartphones" or tablets for that matter.

They also didn't invent MP3 players or Smartphones. It could even be argued they didn't invent the PC (questionable).

But they brought their own desirable characteristics to each of the above markets, and made them actually desirable to normal people who don't want to think about the underlying technology. I see people here arguing about a few extra pixels and a few more megahertz, but this shit changes every few months as products leapfrog each other.

Apple made some mistakes that cost them legal stake to the Mac experience, which ultimately cost them relevance on the desktop for about 15 years while the Mac held about a 2% market share. They almost went bankrupt. So now, they are naturally determined to try to protect their innovations by not repeating their mistakes on the smartphone and tablet markets.

I do disagree with some of Apple's practices (crippling low-end products, bait-and-switch, invisible roadmaps on pro apps) - but you can't deny that they innovate, and they can only be expected to do what they're doing.

And let's face it: Galaxy is a great product, but it is mostly an amalgam of great Apple ideas crammed into a product with incrementally better hardware.

Yeah, just because I'm defending them on this, that means that I defend them no matter what. Good logic there...

quote: Other than that one case, Apple is unanimously losing everything else that goes to court. The few that they won other than that were overturned by a higher court as in Australia. So based on your beleive in hte legal systems of the world, you must agree that Apple is quite off base...

The Samsung Galaxy Tab has been banned in Germany. That means Samsung copied their designs, in the eyes of the law. The fact that Apple has the opinion that other manufacturers / devices did the same thing, and has lost some cases - doesn't mean they are morally doing anything wrong.

If they believed their designs are being copied, they're absolutely entitled to defend that - there is nothing morally wrong with that. If they lose, the case costs them money since they have to pay the lawyers of the opposition. The legal system is self regulating, but that doesn't mean that it's wrong to believe your products have been copied. It IS, wrong, however, to be found GUILTY of ripping off the iPad (as Samsung were). There's a big difference.

quote: Because Apple's lawsuits are rediculous and vague. They didn't invent the touchscreen, or multitouch, or rectangles, or the color black for that matter. Why do you think they are losing? Lack of money to buy the best lawyers? hell no, they have the best of the best there and umpteen billions to spare. They are losing because they have no case.

Do you mean 'ridiculous'? If so, that's subjective. If the courts agreed that the legal cases were ridiculous, they wouldn't be immediately thrown out and not even go to trial. Apple has never claimed to have invented rectangles or black, that's just a ridiculous implication YOU need to try and give your point any validity. What Samsung did, and why they LOST, and had their device banned, was because the copied the entire overall look - not just little things like rectangle, or touch screen, or multi touch. Look at the revised Galaxy Tab - it still has all those things, so clearly therefore they were not the reason the Tab got banned. If you claim they have no case (despite the Tab being banned in Germany) - then what is the problem? Apple will have to pay the legal fees in any case it loses - so they are effectively fined if their legal claims don't work. Why is that so bad? It's their right to try and defend what they believe in the legal system - and if you maintain that 'they lost' then the legal system is doing it's job and nobody suffers - so why the hate?

You need to get some perspective and remember that we're dealing with companies and that it's not illegal or immoral to sue someone just because you lose some of the time.

quote: Serious love that quote :) quote: On average, Apple users are more educated than Android users Don't get upset because i'm not blinded by the Apple crap that your so heavy invested in. Your displaying all the ridiculious symptoms of hypercondriac.

Who's upset? I just stated a fact.

It's still a fact, by the way.

quote: It's pathetic that Apple is using the legal system to delay/prevent the competion based on highly dubious claims.

If the claim is dubious, it can't delay or prevent competition. If it's NOT dubious, it can. Where's the problem?

quote: You can cry as long and as loud as you like but face facts cry baby.. Apple lost the cases.. so suck it up fanboy

So the Galaxy Tab was banned because Apple lost? And so what if they did lose, what harm was done? The answer, is none - yet you vilify them in a completely irrational, and ironically fandroid way... hypocrite.

I wouldn't be surprised if it were true. But what he's trying to imply with it is a gross misuse of statistics. I would bet that it isn't that Apple users on are average more educated that Android users. It's that on average Apple phones/tablets are less affordable to uneducated users. They go for Android devices instead, thereby dragging down Android users' average educational level. Apple's high pricing imparts a sample bias independent of education level or free choice.

He's committing three statistical mistakes. (1) He's trying to imply a causal relationship from a correlation. (2) He's blithely ignoring other socioeconomic factors like income. (3) Rather than measuring the breakdown of the entire population, he's measuring a subset of the population and trying to use it to draw conclusions about the entire population.

(1) Everyone should know. (2) Is explained in my first paragraph. Here's an explanatino of (3) using made up numbers to demonstrate how it can mislead:- Say the entire population is 100 people.- Say there are 99 Android users ranging from high school to doctorate-level education.- Say 9 of those users have doctorates.- Say there is 1 iOS user with a doctorate-level education.

With those stats you'd be correct in claiming the average educational level of iOS users is higher than the average educational level of Android users.

But to properly measure what he's implying (that more educated people pick iOS), you can't sample iOS and Android users and see what their average educational background is. You have to survey people of the same educational level and see whether they prefer iOS or Android. When you do that, you see that 9 out of 10 people holding doctorates prefer Android.

Given that Android sales exceed iOS sales by a healthy margin globally, I suspect a larger percentage of people across all educational levels are choosing Android over iOS.

Don't confuse education with intelligence. There are many people out there who don't have an education that are just as smart if not smarter than those with one. The opposite is also true. There are plenty of people out there with an education that aren't all that intelligent.

quote: I would bet that it isn't that Apple users on are average more educated that Android users. It's that on average Apple phones/tablets are less affordable to uneducated users

Complete logical fail. If Apple phones are less affordable to uneducated users, it means that more uneducated users will use alternatives, such as Android. Which DOES mean that on average, Android users will be less intelligent. Which is what I stated. You're just trying to explain WHY what I said is true, not disproving it.

Which also has a correlation with education and intelligence, so would not contradict the point at all.

quote: (3) Rather than measuring the breakdown of the entire population, he's measuring a subset of the population and trying to use it to draw conclusions about the entire population.

Wow, the concept of a survey - EXPOSED. If only all the millions of representative sample surveys which had happened all over the world for years knew that they were pointless and that the opinions of 'Solandri' would hold more water. Where's your evidence to the contrary. Do you confuse not having any evidence whatsoever with being as relevant as a survey? Good one.

quote: - Say the entire population is 100 people. - Say there are 99 Android users ranging from high school to doctorate-level education. - Say 9 of those users have doctorates. - Say there is 1 iOS user with a doctorate-level education.

In this scenario, (which is grossly misleading due to the 99/1 ratio - a ratio which doesn't exist between Android and iOS) - the average intelligence of the iOS user is STILL higher than the Android user. Which is what I stated. In reality, of course, the numbers are very close to 50/50 and thousands of people from both Android and iOS were questioned, so this logic is completely failed anyway.

quote: You have to survey people of the same educational level and see whether they prefer iOS or Android. When you do that, you see that 9 out of 10 people holding doctorates prefer Android.

Just to clarify - this conclusion can only be reached based on the made up numbers in Solandri's post, and the reason such an illogical conclusion can be reached in his example is because there is such a disproportionate balance between Android and iOS users. In the relevant survey, no such inbalance applied - so you're whole point is rendered irrelevant.

quote: Given that Android sales exceed iOS sales by a healthy margin globally, I suspect a larger percentage of people across all educational levels are choosing Android over iOS.

Actually, the numbers have closed up and it's now nearly 50/50. Regardless, in the survey, a higher percentage of the people who responded were iOS users - again rendering your speculative point absolutely irrelevant. Both Android and iOS had sufficient responses to constitute a representative statistical dataset - again, this was not true in your fictional example.

So in summary, my original statement remains 100% correct, and all of your summary wouldn't even change that if it were true. As it happens, all of your summary is grossly misleading and ironically is the only example out of our two surveys which suffers from the statistical failures you accuse mine of having.

just by looking at this guy makes me wonder why Apple doesnt try to become a religion.their fanboys are no different from your typical extremist of Christianism/Islam.they will buy anything lord apple tells them to.